ART EXHIBITION 


March 
1924 





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THE ComMITTEE ON Aur desires to : 
Be sunein nbs: thanks toa former Gi bairman. for bis 
Beare: m hE ae? 











EXHIBITION 


of the 
EARLIEST KNOWN 


PORTRAITS OF AMERICANS 
by 
PAINTERS 
of the 
SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH 
and 


NINETEENTH CENTURIES 





THE UNIon LEAGUE CLUB 
NEW YORK 
Marcu 12, 13, 1924 





RECAPITULATION of the artists’ names and the number of their paintings 
shown in the series of the Early American Portraits at the Union 
League Exhibitions from November, 1921, to March, 1924, inclusive. 


Allston, Washington (two pictures) 
Alexander, Francis 

Ames, Ezra . 

Ames, Joseph A. ry 
Audubon, John J. (two pieeites) 
Benbridge, Henry 

Blackburn, Joseph 

Bridges, Charles . 

Brown, Mather (three signers 
Clark, Alvan 

Claypole, James 


Copley, John Singleton (five i hides 


Couturier, Henri . 


Durand, Asher Brown ies peat 


Duveneck, Frank 

Duyckinck, Evert, 3d 

Earl, Ralph . 

Earl, Ralph E. W. : 
Eichholtz, Jacob (five wchnreth 
Elliott, Charles Loring (two pictures) 
Feke, Robert 

Fulton, Robert (three widhndevi 
Harding, Chester (two pictures) 
Healy, George P. A. (two pictures) 
Herring, James way 
Hicks, Thomas (two pictures) 
Hubard, William J. 

Huntington, Daniel (four pictures) 
Inman, Henry (six pictures) . 
Jarvis, John Wesley . 

Johnson, David 

Johnson, Eastman 

Johnson, John . 

Jouett, Matthew H. . 


1779-1843 
1800-1880 
1768-1836 
1816-1872 
1785-1851 
1744-1812 


; Isth Century 
. 18th Century 


1761-1831 
1804-1887 
1720-1796 
1737-1815 


. 17th Century 


1796-1886 
1848-1919 
1677-1727 
1751-1801 
1788-1837 
1776-1842 
1812-1868 
1705-1750 
1765-1815 
1792-1866 
1813-1894 
1796-1867 
1823-1890 
1807-1862 
1816-1906 
1801-1846 
1780-1839 
1827-1908 
1824-1906 
1752-1818 
1787-1827 





rely 


King, Charles Bird 

’ Krimmel, John Lewis 
Lambdin, James Reid 

Leutze, Emanuel . j 
Marchant, Edward D. . 
Mare, John . 

Metcalfe, Eliab (two oie aA 


Morse, Samuel F. B. (three pictures) . 


Mount, William S. 

Neagle, John (seven pictures) 
Peale, Charles Willson (four pictures) 
Peale, James 4 

Peale, Rembrandt (five t ictutes) 
Pelham, Peter . " 
Pine, Robért Edge (two Lopes ie 
Pratt, Matthew 

Quidor, John ; 
Savage, Edward (two Bicone 
Sharples, James 

Smibert, John (three ReNiEs) 
Spencer, Francis R. 


Strycker, Jacobus Gerritsen (two nouns, 


Stuart, Gilbert (thirty-four pictures) 
Sully, Thomas (ten pictures) 

Theus, Jeremiah (four pictures) 
Trumbull, John (two pictures) . 
Vanderlyn, John (three pictures) 
Vanderlyn, Pieter 

Waldo, Samuel L. (two eee 
Watson, John . ty 
West, Benjamin (four pictures) 
Wollaston, John (two pictures) . 


ToTAL 167 PorTRAITS BY SIXTY-SIX ARTISTS 


1785-1862 
1787-1821 
1807-1889 
1816-1868 
1806-1885 


; Isth Century 


1785-1834 
1791-1872 
1807-1868 
1796-1865 
1741-1827 
1749-1831 
1778-1860 
1684-1751 
1730-1788 
1734-1805 
1801-1881 
1761-1817 
1751-1811 
1688-1751 
1806-1875 
Died 1687 
1755-1828 
1783-1872 
1719-1774 
1756-1843 
1775-1852 


ee 17th Century 


1783-18061 
1685-1768 
1738-1820 


. 18th Century 





eS SSS yy 


EXHIBITION of PORTRAITS 


‘By 


EARLY AMERICAN ARTISTS 


The eighth of the series which commenced in 


November, 1921 


ARTISTS REPRESENTED 


Allston, Washington . 
Benbridge, Henry . 
Blackburn, Joseph . 
Bridges, Charles 
Clark, Alvan 
Claypole, James 
Copley, John Singleton 
Couturier, Henri 
Inman, Henry 

Mare, John 

Neagle, John (04, 
Peale, Charles Willson 
Pratt, Matthew . 
Smibert, John : 
Strycker, Jacob Gerritsen 
Stuart, Gilbert . 
Sully, Thomas . 
Trumbull, John 
Vanderlyn, John 
Watson, John 

West, Benjamin 
Wollaston, John 


THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB 
NEW YORK 
Marcu 12, 13, 1924 


1779-1843 
1744-1812 


18th Century 
18th Century 


1804-1887 
1720-1796 
1737-1815 


17th Century 


1801-1846 


18th Century 


1796-1865 
1741-1827 
1734-1805 
1688-1751 
Died 1687 
1755-1828 
1783-1872 
1756-1843 
1775-1852 
1685-1768 
1738-1820 


18th Century 











CATALOGUE 


] 


SIR PETER WARREN 
(1703-1752) 


Made Citizen of New York in 1731. Was the first Proprietor of 
Greenwich Village. Sir Peter was married in 1731 at Trinity 
Church to Susan de Lancey, daughter of Stephen de Lancey. 
He was naval hero at the fall of Louisburg in 1745 and was 


made Rear Admiral the same year. Born in Warrentown, 
County Heath, Ireland, in 1703. He died July 29, 1752. 


In 1731, the year this portrait of Sir Peter Warren was painted, he 
with James de Lancey and others were presented with the freedom of 
the city. He was a member of the Council of New York under Gover- 
nor Clinton from 1743 until his death in 1752. Sir Peter’s country 
house, built in 1740, was situated on the property now bounded by 
Bleecker, Fourth, Charles and Perry Streets. It was the center of a 
large estate which extended down to the Hudson River. Here in 1753, 
the Subscription Plate was run for. This was one of the earliest horse 
races held within the limits of Manhattan. 


by John Watson (1685-1768 ) 


John Watson came to the Colonies in 1715 and set up his easel in 
the capital of New Jersey, Perth Amboy. The year in which he was 
born is found by the date of his death engraved on his tombstone, and 
the age at which he died. He was born in 1685 and died in 1768. 

Sir Peter Warren, through his marriage into the de Lancey family, 
had connections living in Perth Amboy, the home of the artist. For 
Elizabeth Van Cortlandt, youngest sister of Mrs. Stephen de Lancey, 
the mother of Mrs. Warren had married in 1727 the Rev. William 
Skinner, the first rector of St. Peters Church, Perth Amboy. Later, one 
of his sons, Lieut. Col. William Skinner married his cousin Susan, 
youngest daughter of Sir Peter Warren. The Barberie and Kearny 
families also lived in Perth Amboy. They, too, were connections of the 
de Lanceys, other branches of the family included. 

William Dunlap in his History of “The Arts of Design,” Vol. 1, de- 
votes four pages to the career of the artist John Watson. 





S885 Sy 


2 


FREDERICK PHILIPSE 
(1626-1702) 
ORIGINAL OWNER OF PHILIPSE MANOR, YONKERS 
Painted in 1674 


by Henri Couturier 
Frederick Philipse by Henri Couturier. According to the lettering 


on this portrait it was painted in New Orange in 1674 and 
was signed by the monogram interlaced, the first two ini- 
tials being those of the artist Couturier. Searching for 


proof that the portrait was by him, this monogram was found on a 
ship register of a “list of goods” sent to New Amstel on the South River 
of New Netherland on May 5th, 1663 from Amsterdam. In the mar- 
gin next to the entry concerning the shipment of goods from Jacob 
Coetrier to Hendrick Coetrier is the reproduction of this monogram. 
It was evidently placed there in acknowledgment of the receipt of 
goods, just as today we sign for the delivery of goods by express, etc. 
Nearly all the other items in this list are initialed in this manner by 
the recipients. Jacob Coetrier was the son of the artist, and is listed 
as his second son in the baptismal records of the Reformed Dutch 
Church, New York. Couturier’s children appear to have been mature 
at the date of baptism as all three were baptised on the same day. This 
fact is supported by the reference to Jacob consigning goods to his 
father in 1663, the year after he was baptised and also by the record 
of Isaac, the artist’s oldest son signing the Remonstrance to the Direc- 
tor General in 1664. These children may have been born abroad, or 
perhaps in Delaware, where their father spent a great part of his life 
and became a distinguished citizen, holding office of Councillor and 
Burgomaster of that Province. This would account for their not hav- 
ing been baptised earlier. 

The various spellings of the name are very confusing, extracts 
copied from documents have been found with the name spelled two 
different ways even in the same document. 

The sale of his house in 1674 by his wife acting with power of at- 
torney, received from him, proves conclusively that he was living at 
that time. He must have died some time between that day and 1687 
when his wife is mentioned in the Mortgage Deeds, a widow of 
Hendrick Couturier. 

Frederick Philipse is said to have called himself and written his 
name as Frederick Vlypse, while his name is spelled Frederick Flipse 
in his will. 








JAN STRYCKER 
(1617-1697) 


MAGISTRATE PROMINENT IN THE EARLY LIFE OF 
NEW AMSTERDAM 


Painted in 1655 by bis artist brother 
Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker 
who died in 1687 


The portrait is signed on the front: AE TATIS 38 
16055 


On the back of the canvas is written: Given to Altje by her 
father Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, who himself drew this like- 


ness of his brother Jan. 
(Signed) J.C. VAN VoorHEES 


“Johannes Coerte Van Voorhees was Altje Strycker’s nephew. He 
was born in 1686 and died in 1757. He inherited the portrait and it 
has been in the Strycker family for seven generations.” 


by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker 


Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, farmer, trader, magistrate and “limner,” 
was born at Ruinen, province of Drenthe, in the Netherlands. His wife 
was Ytie Huybrechts, possibly related to the lady of the same sur- 
name, whose daughter at about the same time married Titus van Rijn, 
the son of a greater “limner,’ Rembrandt. Strycker came to Netherland 
in 1651, a gentleman of considerable means and decided culture, 
and after a successful career, died in October, 1687. We know much of 
his office holding—he was Burgher in 1653 and afterwards he was 
Alderman of New Amsterdam, Attorney General and Sheriff of the 
Dutch towns on Long Island up to August 1673. Very little of his work 
as an artist is known. Three of his portraits have been identified. He 
left a son, Gerrit, who became Sheriff of King’s County in 1688, and 
a brother, Jan, who also left descendants. 








4 


TIMOTHY MATLACK 
(1736-1829) 


PATRIOT AND OFFICER IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 
by Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) 


Charles Willson Peale, a Marylander, born in Queen Anne’s County, 
April 15, 1741, consulted Copley in his early studies of art, went to 
London in 1768, and spent two years in West’s home, and returning, 
established himself in Philadelphia. He joined the Continental Army, 
and was present as an officer at the battles of Trenton and German- 
town. Two years after he returned from England he painted his first 
portrait of Washington. It was painted at Mount Vernon in 1772, and 
is the earliest portrait of Washington in existence. He painted fourteen 
portraits of Washington from life, according to his son, Rembrandt. 
Charles Willson Peale died in Philadelphia, February 22, 1827. 


y 


MARGARET HAMILTON ALLEN 
(Died 1760) 


WIFE OF WILLIAM ALLEN (1705-1780), THE MAYOR 
OF PHILADELPHIA, I'735, AND CHIEF JUSTICE 
OF PENNSYLVANIA, I'750-1774 


Painted in Philadelphia in 1746 
by James Claypole* (1720-1796) 


James Claypole was the earliest native artist of Pennsylvania. He 
was born in Philadelphia, January 27, 1720 and died in the West Indies 
about 1796. He was the son of Joseph Claypoole of Philadelphia 
and his second wife, Edith Ward. Joseph Claypoole was the First War- 
den of Christ Church, Philadelphia, and was “concerned in the pro- 
moting and assisting in the building of Christ Church and contribu- 
ted much toward it.” As Mrs. Allen’s family owned a vault in Christ 
Church and she herself was married there it is not unlikely that she 
was acquainted with the artist son of the First Warden of the Church. 
Joseph Claypoole, the artist’s father, was born in 1677 and died before 


* In signing his name the painter dropped one “‘o” from the usual spelling. 





————E>~_________ PH 


May 3, 1744. He was the son of James Claypoole, friend of Penn, 
Patentee of Pennsylvania and Register General of the Colony. This 
might also indicate an acquaintanceship between the family of the 
artist and sitter, as Mrs. Allen’s daughter Anne married John Penn, 
and her family had always been on terms of friendship with the Penns. 
The first James Claypoole was a wealthy merchant. His son Joseph, 
father of the artist, was also a man of wealth, as he was a large prop- 
erty owner in Philadelphia. 

James Claypole painted portraits in Philadelphia before 1750; little 
is known of his paintings, but he was the instructor of his nephew, 
Matthew Pratt, whose autobiographical notes state that he was ap- 
prenticed “to my uncle James Claypoole, limner and portrait painter 
in general” in 1749. His work shows that he was guided by a painter of 
no mean acquirements. Claypole abandoned art for public life and was 
High Sheriff of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. Claypole 
was married twice. His first wife whom he married May 24, 1742 was 
Rebecca White. His second wife was Mary Chambers. His daughter 
Elizabeth married Timothy Matlack, the soldier and patriot of Phila- 
delphia, whose portrait was painted by Charles Willson Peale. His 
daughter, Mary, married James Peale, the artist, brother of Charles 
Willson Peale, and his cousin John Claypoole was the husband of the 
celebrated Betsy Ross. 

The portrait is inscribed on the back of the canvas “Margaret 
Allen. Drawn and colored by Claypole, Philadelphia, 1746.” 

Charles Willson Peale, in a letter mentions “James Claypole whose 
paintings he examined at his home in Philadelphia in 1762.” ? 

Mrs. Allen’s mother, Anne Brown Hamilton, was painted by Charles 
Bridges, and the portrait is number 19 in this exhibition. 


6 


ALEXANDER GARDEN 
(1685-1756) 


AUTHOR AND RECTOR 
by John Smibert (1688-1751) 


Smibert was a Scottish painter, born in Edinburgh in 1688, who 
joined Bishop Berkeley in the dream of founding a universal college 
in the Bermudas, and he arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1729. 
The dream collapsing, he settled in Boston, taking there with him 
many copies he had made of European old masters, which, with his 
other works, had an influence on Allston, which Allston acknowledged, 





and probably also had an influence on Copley, who was fourteen when 
Smibert died. It has been said of Smibert, “The best portraits we have 
of eminent magistrates and divines of New England and New York 
who lived between 1729 and 1751 are from his pencil.” Smibert died 
in Boston in 1751. 


7 


MARTIN VAN BUREN 
(1782-1862) 


UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1821 
MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, 1827 
SECRETARY OF STATE, 1829 
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1837-1841 


by Henry Inman (1801-1846) 


Henry Inman was born in Utica, 1801. Opened a studio in Vesey 
Street, New York City in 1823. In 1826 he was elected Vice-president 
of the just established National Academy of Design. He was sent to 
England in 1844, commissioned to paint portraits of Wadsworth, Lord 
Macaulay, and Chalmers, the preacher. He was so successful there 
that he was invited to remain, but he came home the following year 
to New York, and died here, January 17, 1846. 


8 


ELIZABETH COLDEN de LANCEY 
(1719-1784) 


WIFE OF PETER de LANCEY (1705-1770) 


by Matthew Pratt (1734-1805 ) 


This artist was born in Philadelphia, September 23, 1734, the son of 
Henry Pratt, goldsmith, a friend of Doctor Franklin and one of his 
famous Junto. His mother’s brother, James Claypole, “limner and 
painter in general,” had the distinction, until recently, of being the 
earliest native-born American artist (1720) that we knew and gave his 
nephew the first instruction he received in art, from whom, to use 
Pratt’s language, “I learned all the aifferent branches of the painting 
business, particularly portrait painting which was my favorite study 











from ten years of age.” His earliest work that we know is the portrait 
of his father’s friend, Franklin, painted circa 1756, now in the Manor 
House collection at Yonkers, New York, which is also the earliest por- 
trait of the philosopher known. In the summer of 1764, Pratt sailed for 
London, having under his protection his kinswoman, the fiancée of 
Benjamin West, who a few months later Pratt gave in marriage to the 
future President of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. For two 
and a half years Pratt lived in the household of West and was West’s 
first student. It was during this period that he painted the picture of 
“The American School”’—West’s painting-room, now in the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, New York, and the portraits of West and 
Mrs. West in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. 

Matthew Pratt died January 9, 1805, and is buried in Christ 
Church burying ground at 5th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia. He was 
the father of Henry Pratt, who built the famous “yellow mansion” 
that stood at Broad and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, for so many 
years, and he was the progenitor of many families of prominence in 
that city. 


9 


BENJAMIN WEST 
(1738-1820) 


A portrait of the distinguished American artist, by himself, 
at the age of twenty-two. President of the Royal Academy of 
England, succeeding Sir Joshua Reynolds, from 1792-1815. 


Benjamin West was born near Springfield, Chester (now Delaware) 
County, Pa., in 1738. At an early age he commenced painting portraits 
in Lancaster, Pa. He continued his art in Philadelphia in 1756, and in 
1758 came to New York City. Later he went to London and had great 
success with his painting. In 1792 he succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as 
President of the Royal Academy of England. He was a friend of Peale, 
Stuart and Trumbull. West never returned to the United States. He 
died in London in 1820, and was buried there in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 





10 


GILBERT STUART’S FAMILY 
AND PAINTING-ROOM—THE ARTIST AND 
MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY 
Painted in Boston in 1827 


Allston is seated at an easel in Stuart’s painting-room, palette in 
hand, but has turned toward the spectator, and Stuart sits before him 
with his back to the spectator, his face seen in profile toward Allston. 
Stuart’s three daughters are in front of him, Anne at his elbow, Mrs. 
Stebbins carrying her small child, and Jane Stuart looking over Mrs. 
Stebbins’ shoulder. At the left of the group are Mr. Stebbins, cane in 
arm, and Gilbert Stuart Newton holding a portfolio and a third 
unidentified figure. Mrs. Stuart, on the right, bends over Allston’s 
chair, and behind her on the wall hangs a portrait of the Stuarts’ 
deceased son, Charles. 


by Washington Allston (1779-1843 ) 


Washington Allston, a South Carolinian, born at Waccamaw, on 
November 5, 1779, was sent to Rhode Island as a child, his native 
climate not agreeing with him. He was educated at Harvard, and 
returned to South Carolina, where he painted some religious compo- 
sitions. In 1801 he went with Malbone to England and studied under 
West at the Royal Academy. In the following year he exhibited three 
pictures at Somerset House and sold one of them. Three years later 
he accompanied Vanderlyn to France, reveling there in the art treas- 
ures Napoleon had accumulated from all Europe, and developing 
the richness of color that came to characterize many of his paintings. 
He visited Italy, came back to America and married, and again in 
1811 returned to England, taking with him S. F. B. Morse as a pupil. 
After a few years he returned home, a success on both sides of the 
ocean. He died at Cambridge, Mass., July 9, 1843. 








NN 


I] 


JOHN ALBERT RYAN 
(1774-1852) 


A NOTED CLERGYMAN AND SCHOLAR 
Painted in Philadelphia in 1829 


by John Neagle (1796-1865 ) 


John Neagle was born in Boston in 1796. Principally self-taught. 
His paintings in Philadelphia give him high rank. The best portrait 
of Gilbert Stuart from life was painted by Neagle, in Boston. He 
died in 1865. 


12 


JANE BROWNE 
(1734-1802) 


MARRIED HON. SAMUEL LIVERMORE, 1759 
Painted in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1756 
by Jobn Singleton Copley (1737-1815 ) 


The artist, John Singleton Copley, was born in Boston in 1737, and 
at the age of fifteen painted a portrait of his stepfather, Peter Pel- 
ham. When he was twenty-nine he was for the first time an exhibitor 
at London, through a portrait sent over to Benjamin West. This 
portrait is one of the very earliest painted by Copley in this country. 
Copley was elected a member of the Society of Arts of Great Britain. 
Charles Willson Peale sought instruction from him in 1768, so rapid 
had been Copley’s rise in America, and later Trumbull wanted to 
study under him. In 1774 Copley went to England and Italy, settling 
in London in 1775, and remaining there until his death in 1815. 


eS SS SE SSS 


13 


BARNABUS CLARK 
(1799-1890) 


ENGRAVER AND BROTHER OF THE ARTIST 
Painted in 1821 
by Alvan Clark (1804-1887 ) 


Alvan Clark was born in Ashfield, Mass., March 8, 1804. He was an 
engraver and was employed for a short time in Boston, where he 
made water colors and India ink portraits. He also painted in Provi- 
dence, R. I., New York, and Fall River, Mass. In 1835 he commenced 
to make miniatures and large portraits. At forty years of age Clark 
became interested in telescopes and made the first achromatic lenses 
manufactured in this country. 

Alvan Clark and Chester Harding each painted the other’s likeness. 
Clark also painted a portrait of Mrs. Chester Harding. 

He died August 19, 1887, in Cambridge, Mass. 


14 


JOHN PHILIP KEMBLE 
(1757-1823) 


AS RICHARD III 


Painted in 1867 after portrait by Gilbert Stuart by Sully. 
As an actor he excelled in the highest order of tragedy. 


by Thomas Sully (1783-1872 ) 


Thomas Sully, who was born in England in 1783, came to this coun- 
try with his parents. The family settled at Charleston, S. C. Sully 
established himself in Philadelphia as an artist at the age of twenty- 
five, after a short residence in New York and in Boston, and after 
having received while in Boston some instruction from Gilbert Stuart, 
he went to London and studied for two years under Benjamin West, 
returning to New York, but making Philadelphia the home of his 
last years. He died there in 1872. 








15 


FRANCIS GRANGER 
(1792-1868) 
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1835-1841 
UNITED STATES POSTMASTER GENERAL, 1841 
by John Trumbull (1756-1843 ) 


Colonel John Trumbull attained this rank in the service under 
Washington, whose forces he joined before he was twenty, and he bore 
the title to the last. Was born in Lebanon, Conn., June 6, 1756. He 
was a son of the Governor of that State, “Brother Jonathan” Trum- 
bull. Washington utilized Trumbull’s ability in draughtsmanship in 
the making of topographical drawings of the British works about 
Boston. Trumbull was educated at Harvard. After the Revolution, 
he went to London to study art under West, was arrested and jailed 
in retaliation for the execution of Major André, and was released 
only upon the surety of West and Copley. He came home, but re- 
turned to West’s studio in 1784, coming back in 1789 to New York, 
but spending the years from 1794 to 1804 and from 1808 to 1816 
abroad. He preceded Rembrandt Peale in the Presidency of the 

_ American Academy. He died in New York, November 10, 1843. 


16 


MRS. ISAAC HOLMES 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
by Henry Benbridge (1744-1812) 


Henry Benbridge was born in Philadelphia, May 20, 1744, and died 
in February, 1812. At an early age he went to Italy, where he studied 
under Battoni and under Mengs, and progressed so well that in 1768 
he was sent to Corsica, on the order of James Boswell, of Auchinleck, 
to paint a whole length portrait of General Pascal Paoli, which Ben- 
bridge, on reaching London the following year, exhibited at the Free 
Society of Artists. While in London Benbridge painted a portrait of 
Doctor Franklin which, with another portrait, he exhibited at the 
Royal Academy in 1770.. Later he returned to Philadelphia, and on 
January 18, 1771, he was elected a member of the American Philo- 
sophical Society. Benbridge settled in Charleston, S. C., where he 
painted many of the portraits of women found in the South at- 
tributed to Copley. 





IN) 


17 


JOSEPH ANTHONY 
(1738-1798) 


PROMINENT MERCHANT OF PHILADELPHIA. UNCLE 
AND BENEFACTOR OF GILBERT STUART 


The original portrait painted in Philadelphia in 1794 
by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828 ) 


A letter written in New York, November 2, 1794, by Gilbert Stuart 
to his uncle, Joseph Anthony, in Philadelphia alludes to the portrait 
shown in this exhibition as follows: “The object of my journey is only 
to secure a picture of the President and finish yours.” This canvas 
has remained in the possession of Joseph Anthony’s descendants in 
Philadelphia until now. In later years, Stuart painted the portraits 
of his nephew, Joseph Anthony, Jr., and his grandnephew, Joseph 
Anthony, 3d. 

Gilbert Stuart, a Rhode Islander, was born in 1755, and went to 
Scotland at sixteen, but his instructor, Cosmo Hamilton, dying, the 
American artist had to work his way home. He went back to London 
before he was twenty, however, and studied under West, living at the 
English capital for thirteen years, and then for five years in Dublin. 
In 1793-1794, he lived in New York, then in Philadelphia for eight 
years, and in Washington for three years. From 1806 until his 
death, Boston was his home. He died there in 1828. 


18 
ZACHARIAH SCHOONMAKER 
(1784-1818) 

LAWYER OF KINGSTON, N. Y. 
LIEUTENANT IN WAR OF I812 
Painted in 1816 
by John Vanderlyn (1775-1852 ) 


John Vanderlyn was born and died at Kingston, N. Y. His birth- 
day was October 15, 1775, and his death occurred on September 24, 
1852. Aaron Burr patronized him in his youth, helped him to secure 
instruction and to go to Europe, and when Gilbert Stuart returned 





SSS SSS SS Seep 


from England to this country in 1793 and painted Burr’s portrait, 
Vanderlyn had a coveted opportunity to see the great American 
master at work. In 1796, Vanderlyn went to Paris, and he first 
exhibited at the Salon in 1800. He returned to America for two years, 
but in 1803 again went to Europe and did not come home until 1816. 


19 


ANNE BROWN HAMILTON 


WIFE OF ANDREW HAMILTON (1676-1741), ATTORNEY 
GENERAL OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1734, ARCHITECT OF 
THE STATE HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA, 1729 


by Charles Bridges 


Charles Bridges, an Englishman, painted in Virginia from 1730 to 
1750. Most of the portraits in the South attributed to Sir Godfrey 
Kneller were by Bridges. He painted as late as 1750. Many of his 
portraits are extant and almost always in case of women may be 
known by a lock of hair resting on or in front of the shoulder. Bridges 
was trained in the British School, and shows by his work the influence 
of Lely and Kneller. 


Mrs. Hamilton died about 1736, according to the statement of C. P. 
Keith in his Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania. 

The miniature of Andrew Hamilton which Mrs. Hamilton is hold- 
ing in this portrait is perhaps the only true likeness in existence, as 
the published engravings, etc., are all from a copy of an original 
which was destroyed. This copy was made by Wertmiiller about fifty 
years after the death of Hamilton. 

Their only daughter, Margaret Hamilton, married in 1734 William 
Allen, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania and Mayor of Philadelphia. 
Her portrait was painted in Philadelphia in 1746 by James Claypole. 


ee 


20 


LEWIS MORRIS 
(1726-1798) 


BRIGADIER GENERAL OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY 
MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, 1'775 
SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 


Painted in New York circa 1755 
by John Wollaston 


John Wollaston, an English portrait painter, visited the Colonies 
in the middle of the Eighteenth Century. Wollaston painted a great 
many portraits in New York, Philadelphia and the South from 1750 
to 1767. His best portraits seem to have been painted in New York 
between 1751 and 1757. 


21 


GENERAL JOSHUA WINSLOW 
(1727-1801) 


SERVED WITH DISTINCTION IN THE CAPTURE OF — 
LOUISBURG IN 1745. GENERAL IN THE 
EXPEDITION TO ACADIA IN 1755 
Painted in 1750 
by Joseph Blackburn 


In the bulletin of the Cleveland Museum issued November, 1919, 
the following biographical notes are given: 

“This artist has until recently been known by the name of Jonathan 
B. Blackburn, in spite of the fact that all of his signed works thus 
far discovered bear, with one exception, the signature I. Blackburn. 
As I and J were in Blackburn’s time used interchangeably, the writer 
was in doubt as to which was the initial of his Christian name until 
he discovered last spring in a private house in Brooklyn, N. Y., a 
portrait signed Jos. Blackburn, which settled the point. No portrait 
by him has been found bearing a date earlier than 1754. The por- 
trait of Joshua Winslow in the present exhibition is signed and dated 
1750, which makes this the earliest Blackburn known to date and 
none after 1761, and it is the writer’s opinion that he was, judging 
from his name, of lowland Scotch birth or ancestry, and from the 
character of his work that he was English taught, and that these two 
dates confine the period of his sojourn in this country. Neither his 
birth nor death dates have been found, nor is it known whither he 
went after leaving nor why he left.” 

There are about eighty portraits by Blackburn in America, and 
most of these bear his signature. 





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ROBERT MONCKTON 
(1726-1782) 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, 17061 
Painted in 1761 


by John Mare 


The marriage record of John Mare and Mary Bes in 1738 in New 
York appears in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society 
Collection, Vol. I., Page 162. It is in a list of marriages in the 
Reformed Dutch Church, New York. This is no doubt the record of 
the marriage of the parents of the artist, John Mare. As the artist is 
mentioned first in his father’s will, he was very likely the oldest child. 
If he was born the year following their marriage, he would have been 
twenty-two years of age when he painted the portrait of Governor 
Monckton. The following record of a mortgage on the property of 
John Mare, Jr., is recorded in the New York County Mortgages, 
Liber No. 2, page 503, Hall of Records, New York. 

“Registered and at the request of Mr. Ennis Graham of the City 
of New York, this 10th Day of March, Anno Domini 1772. 

“Memorandum that on the fourth day of December in the year of 
our Lord one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-one, John Mare 
of the City of New York, Portrait Painter, did mortgage to Ennis 
Graham of the said city, lot of ground lying and being in the City 
of New York in the community called Mulberry St., Northerly by 
land belonging to Obadiah Wells, Easterly by land: the property of 
John Killman and Southerly by a lot of ground belonging to Archi- 
bald Gatfield.” 

The land described in the above memorandum was No. 18 Mul- 
berry St., before 1817. It is called to-day Lot No. 61. It was in the 
Out Ward of the city of New York in the block, at that time bounded 
on the West by Mulberry St. (formerly Catherine St.) on the North 
by Cross St. (now Park St.) and on the East by Mott St. 

John Mare, Senior, who made his will in 1761, devising property 
in the Out Ward, gave a mortgage in 1761 on land in this same block 
and apparently on the same lot or the one adjoining. 

This mortgage is recorded in New York County Mortgages, Liber 
No. 1, page 252, Hall of Records, New York. This mortgage was 
given to Andrew Marcellus, dated December 7, 1761. It was on Mul- 
berry St. Lot No. 38 (old number) and is Lot No. 61: to-day. 

By comparing these records it will be seen that the John Mare, who 
made his will in 1761 was actually the father of John Mare, Jr., 
Limner. This same Mare property is referred to in Stuyvesant Deeds 
in 1796 in the conveyance of Lot No. 22 on Mott St. Lot No. 22 is 
described as adjoining “in the rear lot No. 39, lately belonging to 
John Mare.” 

This is the third portrait and the earliest one by John Mare thus 
far identified. The two others were painted in 1767 and 1768. 





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Committee on Art 


George F. Kunz 


Chairman 


Herbert S. Carpenter 
Secretary 


E. Le Grand Beers 
Alexander McM. Welch 
Alfred Hopkins 
Finley J. Shepard 


William Evarts Benjamin 


